Authorities continued to investigate the incident. Coordinator for the Arctic Region, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Office of International Religious Freedom, Office of the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of the Science and Technology Adviser, Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, Bureau of Information Resource Management, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Many prisons lacked sufficient security personnel. In these sectors employers frequently paid workers for the standard 44-hour workweek irrespective of any additional hours they worked. Within the broad range of violent deaths, the core element of intentional homicide is the complete liability of the direct perpetrator, which thus excludes killings directly related to war or conflicts, self-inflicted death (suicide), killings due to legal . Voters elected Xiomara Castro of the LIBRE Party as president for a four-year term scheduled to begin in January 2022. International observers generally recognized the elections as free and fair. Institutions such as the National Womens Institute attempted to enhance the governments response to domestic violence by opening three additional womens centers in the country. The law requires an employer to begin collective bargaining once workers establish a union, and it specifies that if more than one union exists at a company, the employer must negotiate with the largest. Driving in Honduras can be dangerous. The government used the pretrial detention center to hold high-profile suspects and those in need of additional security, including police and military officials. The law allows the release of other suspects pending formal charges, on the condition that they periodically report to authorities, although management of this reporting mechanism was often weak. The law does not permit active members of the military or civilian security forces to vote. The Jewish community numbered approximately 275 members. Fuel stations can be few and far between in some areas. There were credible reports that members of the security forces committed some abuses. There is also a Human Rights Committee in the National Congress. The STSS is responsible for enforcing the national minimum wage, hours of work, and occupational health and safety law, but it did so inconsistently and ineffectively. Civil society organizations criticized the governments failure to investigate threats adequately. Vasquez was the leader of the Union of Field Workers, a member of the Lenca community, an environmental activist, and a LIBRE Party candidate for Congress. Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by government agents ; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious restrictions on free expression and media, including threats to media members by criminal elements and the existence of criminal libel laws; serious government corruption; lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence; and crimes involving violence or threats of violence against indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, and against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex persons. As of September the Public Ministry had received nine reports of racial or ethnic discrimination. Most women in the workforce engaged in lower-status and lower-paying informal occupations, such as domestic service, without the benefit of legal protections. As of September the STSS had an insufficient number of inspectors to enforce the law effectively. Observers noted several significant improvements in transparency procedures, including electoral reforms, an updated voter registry and new national identification cards, and new technology that included a biometric verification system and a preliminary results transmission system. Participation of Women and Members of Minority Groups: No laws limit the participation of women or members of minority groups in the political process, and they did participate. Violent gang activity, such as extortion, violent street crime, rape, and narcotics and human trafficking, is widespread. Office of the U.S. The government provided victims of sexual violence access to other health-care services. You should exercise a high degree of caution. Her most recent evaluation was in August, and the court declared her fit to stand trial in September. OSAC promotes effective cooperation by working to assist the U.S. private sector to better anticipate security issues, including identifying and tracking threats, particularly those targeting private sector personnel, facilities, investments, interests, and intellectual property. Global AIDS Coordinator and Global Health Diplomacy, Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Special Representative for Syria Engagement, U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Office of the U.S. On April 23, the Public Ministry arrested and charged Josue Exequiel Martinez Martinez, Siriaco Mejia Santos, Francisco Lopez Lazo, and Mario Anibal Lopez Velasquez for the December 2020 murder of Felix Vasquez. It stipulates that a prosecutor has 24 additional hours to decide if there is probable cause for indictment, whereupon a judge has 24 more hours to decide whether to issue a temporary detention order. Travel to Honduras should be . However, crime and violence are serious problems throughout Honduras and the country has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Transgender persons are prohibited from changing their legal gender status. Marco Bogran, former director of INVEST-H, the Honduran government entity tasked with providing coronavirus pandemic relief contracts to private firms, remained in pretrial detention awaiting his next court appearance, scheduled for January 31, 2022. Employers rarely paid the minimum wage in the agricultural sector and paid it inconsistently in other sectors. For crimes with minimum sentences of six years imprisonment, the law authorizes pretrial detention of up to two years. Honduras has the misfortune of being situated between South American cocaine production and U.S. drug consumption. Discrimination and Societal Abuses, Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination, Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, a. Children's Rights. Employers frequently refused to comply with STSS orders that required them to reinstate workers who had been dismissed for participating in union activities. Some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) expressed concern regarding weak implementation of the law and limited resources available to operate the governments protection mechanism. Civil society continued to raise problems with minimum wage violations, highlighting agricultural companies in the south as frequent violators. Chances are, if you are arriving via a cruise ship, you will be safe. Tourists in Belize are often victims of theft, but few experience real violence. The law prohibits all the worst forms of child labor. There were reports of violence related to land conflicts and criminal activity. The law permits workers in public health care, social security, staple food production, and public utilities (municipal sanitation, water, electricity, and telecommunications) to strike if they continue to provide basic services. Download the 2021 annual crime report below. As of September CONADEH had received 33 complaints. CONAPREV conducted 138 visits to prisons as of September. CONADEH received complaints involving human rights abuses and referred them to the Public Ministry for investigation. The law does not authorize pretrial detention for crimes with a maximum sentence of five years or less. Even when traffic signals are working, drivers often ignore them. Unions also raised concerns regarding the use of temporary contracts and part-time employment, suggesting that employers used these mechanisms to prevent unionization and avoid providing full benefits. Effective June 2, 2021: All travelers, regardless of age, must provide either proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 or negative test results for a PCR, Antigen or ELISA COVID-19 test taken less than 72 hours before entry into Honduras. Death threats, gang recruitment, extortion and other forms of targeted violence are driving more families in northern Central America to flee their homes and seek safety in other countries, a new . Workers had difficulty exercising the rights to form and join unions and to engage in collective bargaining, and the government failed to enforce applicable laws effectively. Download Historical Data. The constitution prohibits practicing clergy from running for office or participating in political campaigns. Persons suspected of any of 21 specific felonies must remain in custody, pending the conclusion of judicial proceedings against them. Two Antioch police officers who were involved in the 2021 death of a San Francisco man in their custody were justified in their actions, according to a report by the Contra Costa County District . It was unclear how many of these threats were related to the victims professions or activism. Authorities often did not effectively enforce the law. As of October 17, 42,357 Hondurans were deported in 2021 to Hondurasmore than the total throughout 2020the government reported. Perdomo allegedly killed Keyla Martinez after she was detained for violating the countrys COVID-19 curfew. Informal Sector: According to the STSS, approximately 75 percent of workers worked in the informal economy, equivalent to approximately 2.7 million persons. The governments National Policy to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination seeks to promote equality and combat discrimination related to the countrys seven indigenous and two Afro-descendent groups, with a focus on social and political participation; access to education, health care, justice, and employment opportunities; and rights to ancestral lands and natural resources. Birth Registration: Children derive citizenship by birth in the country, from the citizenship of their parents, or by naturalization. A study by the National Violence Observatory of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) placed the country as the most violent territory in Central America, with a homicide rate of 38.5 per 100,000 inhabitants. The law also imposes prison sentences of up to two years, eight months for child labor violations that endanger the life or morality of a child age 16 or 17 and up to three years, four months for children younger than 16. The government investigated violence and threats of violence against union leaders. The quasi-governmental National Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment (CONAPREV) received 18 complaints of the use of torture or cruel and inhuman treatment through August. While all formal workers are entitled to social security, there were reports that both public- and private-sector employers failed to pay into the social security system. Around 2,000,000 tourists visited Honduras, of which most would've visited the three-bay islands. The legal age of consent is 18. Local police and emergency services lack sufficient resources to respond effectively to serious crime. American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative The government tasks CONAPREV with visiting prisons and making recommendations for protecting the rights of prisoners. Arbitrary Arrest: CONADEH reported 38 reports of arbitrary arrest through August. Long periods of pretrial detention remained common and problematic, with many other pretrial detainees held in the general population with convicted prisoners. Public-sector trade unionists raised concerns regarding government interference in trade union activities, including its suspension or ignoring of collective agreements and its dismissals of union members and leaders. The STSS completed 29 child labor inspections as of September and identified 13 minors working without permission. There is no statutory rape law, but the penalty for rape of a minor younger than 14 is 12 to 17 years in prison, or nine to 13 years in prison if the victim is 14 or older. In most prisons only inmates who purchased bottled water or had water filters in their cells had access to potable water. The government generally respected these provisions. According to the secretariat, the system was designed for approximately 10,600 inmates. 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